Rice. Can you tell the difference?

[NANGI]

Konnichiwa Mina-san!

There are two varieties, Indica rices and Japonica rices. Of course main rice of Japan is a Japonica. And Japanese rice brands are made by selective breeding from Japonica.

I can not tell the difference of brands, but I don't mind. I'm so indifferent to brands.

But I'm nervous about cooking. I don't like soft and sticky rice.

NANGI

 

[Eternal Wind]

Soft and sticky rice is fine with me!
I love all kinds of rice! it's yummy! good for health!
Eat more rice minna!

 

[kov]

I can definitely tell the difference, but I don't think I could identify them in a blind tasting. I could definitely rank them all blind, though.

The funny thing I've experienced is that I don't notice as much a quality shift when I shift "UP" -- i.e., go from eating a middle-priced brand to a high-priced brand. But when I shift back "DOWN" -- whoa, it's painfully noticeable.

As a student I ate Kokuho Rose. Now I realize that that stuff is horrid. The problem isn't that it's "too sticky", the problem is that it doesn't hold it's shape, so it just goes to mush too easily. Better brands have nice stickiness on the outside of the grain, but the grains themselves are firmer. They're also better filtered so you don't get as many broken and partial grains. And of course, they have a lot more flavor.

One note -- in terms of one person making yukky rice and another making it yummy; that's probably because somebody isn't rinsing the rice. That makes a big difference to me.

Finally, I must put a plug in for my favorite rice -- HITOMEBORE!!! The best rice around! My rankings go like this:

Worst. Kokuho Rose.
Okay. Nishiki
Good. Akita Komachi
Better. Tamaki
Best. Hitomebore

There's another popular one that I've had that I'd rank just above Kokuho Rose, but I don't remember the name.

 

[kov]

I do use a rice cooker , I heard that you do something with vinegar water or salt water or something, do you know any of this

No, it's the varietal of the rice that you want, as well as the treatment. Japanese rice is sticky because it's extremely fresh and has been bred for those characteristics. Jasmine rice (what you use, I recall) is a variant of basmati, and those styles are dried and aged. So when you cook jasmine it comes out dry and fluffy because it's starches have been altered through the aging process, and there's less "dust" on the outside of the grains too. Japanese rice hasn't been aged, so it comes out stickier.

The vinegar thing is different -- that's just the style for sushi rice. But don't mix the vinegar in until after the rice is cooked!

 

[kirei_na_me]

As a student I ate Kokuho Rose. The problem isn't that it's "too sticky", the problem is that it doesn't hold it's shape, so it just goes to mush too easily.

YES! That's it! That's exactly what it is. It doesn't hold it's shape and it gets mushy. That's exactly it. I guess when I said "too sticky", I was meaning gooey. Kokuho Rose is at the bottom of my list too.

One note -- in terms of one person making yukky rice and another making it yummy; that's probably because somebody isn't rinsing the rice. That makes a big difference to me.

Yep, another good point.

Finally, I must put a plug in for my favorite rice -- HITOMEBORE!!! The best rice around!

Where do you get it? As I recall you're in or around NYC? I usually get my rice at the generic "Asian" store not too far from here(they only have Nishiki and Kokuho Rose *sigh*), but I have ordered other rices from places like Katagiri. I haven't seen Hitomebore listed at Katagiri, though.

 

[yimija]

rice, can you tell the difference ?

just don't try to make risotto with sticky rice.
* wanna be a good cook ?
* wanna be appreciated by your friends ?

well, better get down to knowing the difference between rizi arborio from Italy and sticky rice from Korea or shini rice from China. Or do you prefer Indian rice ?

No kirei_na_me, it's not in your head. rice grows out of the soil, just like human beings. And we are so many and so totally different !!!!

p.s. if you want the reipe for risotto (which one ??) just tell me... and buon appetito !

 

[kov]

Where do you get it (Hitomebore)? As I recall you're in or around NYC? I usually get my rice at the generic "Asian" store not too far from here(they only have Nishiki and Kokuho Rose *sigh*), but I have ordered other rices from places like Katagiri. I haven't seen Hitomebore listed at Katagiri, though.

We're in the E. Village so we have been getting it at JAS Mart on St. Marks Place. However, last time we went they said they were "out of stock". I have a funny feeling they stopped carrying it. When we were in Cambridge, MA we could get it fairly reliably at Porter Square -- Kotobukiya was the stores name, I think. It's hard to find here, we even went out to Yaohan in NJ (or whatever they're calling it these days) and they didn't have it. Then after we asked a couple times last summer at JAS Mart it started mysteriously appearing there. So we bought like 50 pounds at a time for fear of it disappearing again. I hope it's just out of stock and not disappeared.

 

[bezz]

Family Tree

 

[cathy]

Hi everyone.

I know many quality of international rice, and i like them all.

Couse it depend what dish i cook i choose the proper rice. Also, it dipend what time of the day i need to eat.

white-polished rise, for brekfast. Wild rice (well is not really a rice, but i use as rice dish),brown rice or non-polished rice, for after 1 pm till evening.

Brown rice and nonpolished rice any time in the afternoon and evenings.

I use sticky rice for: cakes, cookies, puddings, pies, candy, and other sweets. Even home made ice cream.

I also use white rice on bread making.

Although, i know the quality and texture of each rice, i don`t have preference. Like i sayed, it dipend the dish i am making.

 

[Lina Inverse]

I'm not quite sure there as I don't eat much rice, but I'd say I can tell the difference between the cheap stuff and the more expensive stuff.

 

[Golgo_13]

I can tell between Koshihikari, New Rose, Uncle Ben, Rice a Roni, Carolina and Minute Rice. That's about it.

 

[epigene]

How does Nishiki fare against other varieties? When I was in the US, I thought it was the closest thing there is to quality Japanese rice. (Well... that was a long time ago...) From what I heard, it is a variety similar to Sasanishiki in Japan.

In Japan, I like Koshihikari.

For fried rice and curry, I like to eat the long-grained (indica) rice from India and Thailand sold here in Tokyo. "Kaori-mai" (fragrant indica rice) is very fragrant and smells like popcorn. Yummm... :gohan:

 

[sabro]

I love sticky short grained rice. The brand is Botan Calrose-- that's all I know.

We get long grain and brown rice too. Neither works with Ume.

Doesn't Japan import tons of rice from the Sacramento valley?

 

[rakuten]

For my part it's quite easy to tell the difference because I eat rice very often. I think it's the same with any other kind of food, when you're "trained" it's easy to tell. I know of a guy who can tell apart different brands of mineral water (blind test), which I think is absolutely amazing.

 

[sabro]

In California, we have several pan-asian buffet type restaurants. They are pretty good and very cheap. They have a chinese buffet, a mongolian barbeque and a sushi bar. But rice fans beware: they use the wrong rice. I don't know how or why, but it is wrong.

 

[Nuala]

I've been eating the sticky rice lately. Does it matter what kind it is, or is it just the way you cook it.

 

[lexico]

I really believe, or at least I think, Tamaki is better than any other brand of rice I've used. I've used Kokuho Rose, Nishiki, and Tamaki.

So, do you think it's all in my head that Tamaki is better than the other two, or do you think it's possible for one brand of rice to be better than the other? Do you prefer one brand of rice over the other?

Well, you may be right, kirei_na_me, but I happen to think that it all depends on the rice cooker.

Try one of those pressurized ones, and the taste between brands is virtually indistinguishable to my humble palate!

But then again, I'm not that picky!

 

[den4]

I can tell the difference between Thai rice, Japanese rice and rice that's been cooked badly, ie: when it comes out like glue, too watery, or like rice krispy treats...
I've had rots and rots of experience of the glue and watery type when dining at the university dining halls we were forced to eat at during my college days...and the sad thing is the rice always tasted like it had metallic flavorings added
they never did get it quite right.....I hate dorm food!

 

[JHTAURO]

Well,

I work for Japanese Market Chain in California and the nest type of rice now is Koshihikari Variety.

You mention 3 Brands od rice, Kokuho Rose and Nishiki are M401 Mid size grain rice and Tamaki (IF is Tamaki Gold) is Koshihikari Variety, the most popular variety in Japan.

We have 3 different types of japanese rice in US:

Calrose (Botan & Shirakiku)
M401 (Nishiki, Kokuho Rose, Hikari)
Short Grain (Koshihikari, Hitomebore, Akita Komachi and Sasanishiki)

The most famous rice in Japan is Koshihikari Uonumasan, here in US you can find it for $30.00 (2Kg Bag)

Hope this can help you.

 

[SushiShin]

well, if im blindfolded and they put a bowl of rice from india or a bowl rice from somewhere else, i think i won't taste the difference but when i feel the rice (i mean the length then i can separate them and say this is this and that is that)

 

[pipokun]

ﾂ渉ｼ窶ｰﾂｺ窶彭ﾅ?ﾃｭﾅｽY窶ｹﾃ??堋ｪ窶氾｢窶伉?ﾅ津俄?堙?絶??窶敕打?ﾃｭ窶堙個催?坂?壺?ｹ窶ｰﾆ停?堡断ﾆ停?ｹﾅ?J窶敖ｭﾂ、窶啣ﾅ椎ｽ窶敖ｭ窶昶?樞?堙
ﾂ新ﾅ耽ﾂ絶??窶敕打?ﾃｭﾂ「窶嗷窶嗽ﾆ歎ﾆ椎?ﾂーﾆ炭ﾂ」窶堙債、窶愿?ﾅ?ﾋ愬?O窶伉､窶堙娯?惑ﾂ催樞?堙家湛ﾆ馳ﾂーﾆ湛ﾆ歎ﾆ槌槌暖ﾆ停?ｹ窶堙俄?堙?ﾅｽg窶堙ｭ窶堙ｪ窶堙ｩﾂ硬窶堋ｭ窶堙??冉窶扨ﾂ青ｫ窶堙個坂?壺?堋｢窶吮??窶ｹﾃｳﾆ短ﾆ停?ｰﾆ蓄ﾆ鍛ﾆ誰窶堙ｰﾂ催娯?廃ﾂ。
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/economy/business/071210/biz0712101845001-n1.htm

Matsushita selling high-end rice cookers in February
The high-end rice cooker, SV series, uses the same heat shield material as in space shuttles.

SR-SV101
http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/jn071210-2/jn071210-2-1.jpg

Retail price: About 115,000JPY

Wondering what would be the next after the space-age cooker...
But I still believe cooking rice by earthenware pot, donabe, is the best, though I do not always cook rice with donabe.

 

[leonmarino]

But I still believe cooking rice by earthenware pot, donabe, is the best, though I do not always cook rice with donabe.

I used to prefer simple pots too, but I find the convenience of a rice cooker a temptation that I have been unable to resist the last couple of monts..

Anyways, I can taste the difference!! I just switched to another brand the other day.. It sucks!! I would have like it if I wouldn't have been spoiled by the more expensive brands I had been buying for some reason..

Ah well, hopefully I'll get used to this taste.. In the meantime, I'll use Trehalose to improve the taste.

 

[Dogen Z]

While I was living in California, I ate mostly calrose rice. It tasted fine to me and I thought the hype about Japanese rice being better was just propaganda. However, one day, a neighbor gave me a riceball (onigiri) made with expensive Japanese rice. I could tell the difference right away! It was sweeter and sort of plumper (is that a word?). I then understood why Japanese prefer their own kind of rice. It's not just PR.

That said, I would buy the way cheaper calrose rice, if it were available in Japan now.
********************

A tortoise is lying on its back, with its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs to turn over, but it can't. And you're not helping. Why is that?

 

[pipokun]

...
In the meantime, I'll use Trehalose to improve the taste.

I heard a small company somewhere in Hiroshima or Okawama developed a cheap way to produce trehalose, but just add 1 tsp honey for 2 cup rice when you soak rice in water.

 

[yamahaR1]

I'm not an expert, but our household eats a lot of rice daily since we are ASIANS (from the Philippines).....we cook it with the right amount of water on a rice cooker so that it's not too soggy and not too dry.....I'll look later at some brands that we've tried and I'll post them on this thread later